A deliciously gory study on human rage...

Rating: 9/10 (1 July 2003)

Just how big of a part of the human psyche is rage and violence? What is it that drives humans to be violent and aggressive? And even in the case of a powerful virus transforming everyone around into killing machines would all who survive pull together? Or would they continue to do what, in the end, appears to be encoded in our DNA? These are the topics which Danny Boyle is, i think, trying to comprehend with "28 Days Later". And he does so in a magnificent way; using DV, which is much more realistic and in a way more impressive than 35mm, Boyle follows Jim, Selena, Frank and Hannah in a desperate attempt to survive in a post-apocalyptic Britain. The shots of an abandoned London or the Englsih countryside are beautiful, if not utterly poetic. The talents of Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris and of course Cristopher Eccleston and Brendan Gleeson add up to the film more than having a star cast. Plus there's John Murphy's exhilarating score, enhanced by musicians such as Brian Eno, Grandaddy and Blue States'"Season Song". Any comparison to P.Anderson's mediocre "Resident Evil" is unfair and unreasonable; "28 Days Later" is not a nerveless, uninteresting, cliched "Aliens" wannabe; instead it's a fascinating but gory study on the very depths of the human psyche.
8.5/10 rating.